William Saliba century ‘just the start’ for Arsenal defender | OneFootball

William Saliba marked his 100th match for Arsenal by shutting out Europe’s elite goalscorer Viktor Gyokores, a performance at the heart of a memorable 5-1 Champions League win away to Sporting Lisbon.

The France defender, still young at 23, is now thinking of Saturday’s match at West Ham, which is why both he and Mikel Arteta’s side did not overdo the celebrations in Portugal.

An impressive weekend win over Nottingham Forest was overshadowed by the unexpected nature of their record equalling Champions League victory against a Sporting side that had not lost at home for a year and a half, in 30 matches.

Saliba said: “I think we had two or three weeks before the international break when it was really tough. But now we have played two very good games. It is not enough; we have to keep going like this. There is a big game on Saturday but it is good for the confidence that we won like this.

“Yes, we can feel momentum building. The coach has always told us to believe in ourselves because we are a really good team. We had some bad times but we believe the good times are coming. We will stick together and keep going like that.”

Saliba has started all but one of his 100 appearances, winning 65 times. Only five players in Arsenal history won 65 or more of their first 100 matches.

“I’m very proud,” Saliba added. “I hope there are going to be many more at this amazing club and I have to keep going. But, yes, it is amazing. I just have to keep going. It is not finished. I want to be better and better and better.”

Deflecting attention away from his personal milestone, the central defender identified the return of fit again captain Martin Odegaard as a key factor in Arsenal’s change of form and mentality. The margin of victory matched Arsenal’s class of 2003 that won by the same score in the San Siro, against Inter Milan.

He added: “It is a bit different when he is here as he is one of the best players in the world. We are so happy to have him back. We are better with him; I hope he doesn’t get injured again. We have to enjoy playing with him. You can see we are better with him.

“Honestly, every game I’m shocked because he is doing something new on the field that you haven’t seen. He’s a really, really top player. He is a top professional, so he worked hard at the training ground. I’m not surprised that he came back like this but it is not easy when you haven’t played for four weeks to come back at this level. He is a top professional.”